Madoff's reputation won trust in Valley

The scope of Bernard Madoff's alleged fraud is detailed in 162 pages of minuscule type: a list of the disgraced money manager's once-trusting customers, including a bevy of the rich, famous and powerful.

In between, though, are all the others: the names you've never heard - thousands of mostly ordinary people, until now all but overlooked.

Their voices reveal the true toll of Madoff's scheme, one that cannot be measured in dollars alone.

To do so would overlook the anger, despair and silent shame they share.

"My wife says, `Keep yourself busy and get your mind off it,"' said Alan English, a Florida business owner whose life savings were lost to Madoff. "But how can I take my mind off something that has destroyed my whole life?"

English is one of thousands of Madoff customers whose names were made public late Wednesday in a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan - a list serving as testament to the sweeping nature of Madoff's alleged $50 billion fraud.

The list includes scores of famous names, from Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax, to World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein, to actor John Malkovich and CNN host Larry King.

But on a list with 13,000 entries, they are the exceptions. Run a finger down the list, and what's most noteworthy is that so many of the names belong to people who might be just your neighbors or co-workers or friends.

Richard Shapiro of Calabasas said he was persuaded by a friend to invest with Madoff because of his successful track record and the fact that he'd previously chaired the Nasdaq Stock Exchange.

"Madoff had a sterling reputation," Shapiro said, "and I thought it was a safe place to put my money."

Shapiro recalled getting detailed monthly statements from Madoff's company, showing that his money was being invested in blue-chip stocks and Treasury bills.

But, Shapiro said, "I don't think it ever bought a share of stock or a T-bill. I think Madoff was a pathological liar."

Shapiro said he's angry at Madoff but also at the Securities and Exchange Commission. He said he believes investors should be allowed to sue the federal government for failing to exercise due diligence in auditing Madoff and for failing to protect investors.

While Shapiro is not among those left penniless by Madoff, he said, his life has been "significantly impacted."

"My pension is gone," said Shapiro, 55, a principal in Winco Asset Management. "I now have to worry about earning a living."

Planning for his retirement, Dr. Bruce Hector of Santa Clarita began investing in the late 1980s with Frank Avellino and Michael Bienes, who operated a "feeder" fund that funneled investors' money over to Madoff.

When the SEC determined that Avellino and Bienes were acting illegally, Madoff took over Hector's account.

"I'm a personal physician and don't know squat about investment," Hector said. "I put money there, knowing that the people (overseeing the fund) were extremely competent - or at least believing they were so."

Hector said he got a satisfactory yield on his investments, about 7 percent to 10 percent annually, even during the dot-com boom and the bust that followed.

"The income was not exceptional, but it was consistent," Hector said. "I was letting it build up, and that was going to be my retirement.

"What was attractive to me was that I could practice medicine and not have to watch the stock market."

Hector said he was thinking about retirement last December when the news broke about the collapse of Madoff's investment empire. Now 65, he expects he'll have to work five more years.

"The business of this being about a bunch of millionaires is not true at all," Hector said. "The rest of the investors were hard-working people who searched around for what they thought was a conservative place."

An analysis of the list shows that the people come from 44 states and at least 40 countries - from the Cayman Islands to Kenya to Switzerland. Florida has nearly 2,200 entries.

Not everyone on the list was a Madoff victim. Some ended up in the document simply because they are lawyers or accountants whose clients are connected to Madoff.

For example, accountant Frank Mantovani, a partner in Encino-based Halpern & Mantovani, is listed nearly two dozen times. He did not return a phone call for comment.

But the sheer volume of the list demonstrates the reach of Madoff's world.

Bob Finkin of Queens, N.Y., said he lost $350,000 of his own money with Madoff. But his family's foundation lost nearly $2.5 million, money that would have been used to support drug-rehabilitation and mental-health programs.

As a young lawyer in 1966, Finkin said, he was introduced to Madoff by a wealthy friend.

Finkin's investment started out with $10,000, but then over the years "it grew, grew, grew." Believing in his personal investment's success, Finkin decided to entrust the family foundation to Madoff. In August, he gave Madoff $500,000 more in foundation money to invest.

"And along the way, we felt comfortable with him," said Finkin, 80. "I laugh at it."

English, 65, the Florida business owner, never met Madoff, but said he felt secure because of the investor's solid reputation and the consistent yields on his early investments.

It was Madoff money that helped English realize a dream of selling his business and buying his dream home in Florida. It was Madoff money that made him feel secure about retiring.

Now, after nearly two decades of investing with Madoff, English says he has lost everything.

"I feel like my whole life has fallen apart," he said. "Forty years of working and saving all that money, and there's nothing there."